The Long and Winding Road
by Longbourn22
Summary: At last, the not so long awaiting sequel to Bringing Emily Home...here's the team's reaction to her return! Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! Sorry for the long delay; real life friends and family came to visit.

So, per many requests, this is the team's reaction to Emily's return.

Thanks to HGRH35 who without her I, this story would not be this great! (patting hers and my back! )

So, without further ado, enjoy!

Disclaimer: yeah, I do not own CM or its characters!

…

**The Long and Winding Road**

Part 1

No one had seen Emily since her sudden appearance in the BAU unit. After the shock had worn down, she sat down and told the team of her ordeal and the necessity of deception to the team.

Penelope was walking up towards Hotch's office; she needed to talk to someone. She felt as if something was wrong.

She remembered sadly, as she passed by Derek's desk, how he reacted when he saw Emily standing by the doorway, as if she was a ghost. She was so happy that Emily, her friend, was still alive. She had stood up and rushed over to the brunette and enveloped her into a fierce hug that ended watery; both women were crying. It had meant a lot to Emily to see that she was not offended at the deception.

But the surprise was that after Emily had finished explaining, Derek, without a word, left the conference room.

Instead of she or Emily went after him, it was Reid who did that.

Emily felt awful; she knew right away she had angered her friend and teared.

Then, Penelope and Dave were taken by surprise when Hotch came around the table and placed an assuring hand on her shoulder. Emily reached up and grasped his hand and together they held on. It was as if he was giving her strength and she absorbing it.

Penelope remembered her surprise, as well as Dave's, at their display of closeness. It was a very un-Hotch movement.

Half an hour went by when Reid came back. The team looked behind him but there was no one else.

Disappointment ruled around the table.

As Reid sat down, he looked around and saw that they were staring at him expectantly.

"He is still angry. I tried to tell him about forgiveness and he punched the wall half an inch from me."

They gasped; they knew Derek had anger management issues but they trusted him to control it. To know that he almost deliberately tried to hurt Reid was shocking.

"I'm sorry," Emily said softly.

"Hey kid," Dave looked at her pointedly, "It's not your fault. You were put in a position where you couldn't say no because you were still a very young agent and saying 'no' to an assignment would have put a black mark against you in your personal file. If it were me, I would have gone along as well. They knew your strength. You signed up for…"

"Dave, that's bullshit!" Hotch glared at his friend. "Don't ever say that. She didn't sign up to be a…a…" he was so mad at his friend that he couldn't think of the word."

"Mata Hari." Penelope uttered.

Hotch stared at her as if he was ready to read her a riot act but Reid in his usual philosophical self began to recite, "Mata Hari was born in the Netherlands in the later 1800s. She was accused of being a spy for Germany, found guilty and executed by firing squad. Actually, there was no solid evidence that she was a spy. She was really just an exotic dancer who married well and thus afforded to travel freely because of her country's neutral status as well as wealth. And in the second World War…" He stopped his recitation when he realized he had done it again as several pairs of eyes were on him.

He clamped up immediately and looked down on his lap.

"Thank you Reid, and Garcia. But I don't think Emily appreciated being called that."

Emily smiled a little, "No I don't. Considering the way she died. And I'm not into dancing and stripping."

"You're right, Hotch. She didn't deserve being seen and judged by what was done. Interpol was only interested in one thing at that time; Valhalla who turned out to be Doyle himself. And Interpol didn't care how they captured him."

Hotch nodded to his friend; thank you.

"Look guys, I know what I did then, and that I didn't tell anyone; I didn't have a choice and I was not authorized to give out this information. Of course, I knew that you guys could put two and two together and Penelope could dig out the Earth's core if she need be."

Garcia blushed at the compliment.

"Emily," Reid began, "I believed you. There is no need to explain yourself about the past. I'm sure we each have secrets kept from each other…"

"I don't even want to know what kind of secrets you have, Spencer." Garcia had lightly punched him on his upper arm. "Wait, I know! You have the biggest collection of Smurfs and your favorite character is Papa Smurf and that you had a thing for him."

It broke the somber mood.

Reid blushed much deeper than Garcia but they knew that they had reached an understanding where Emily was concerned.

"So what now? Is she back to being Emily Prentiss?" Garcia wanted to know.

Hotch had moved back to his seat and not looking at anyone he replied, "I think it is safe to do so. CIA did not detect any factious movement in Ireland or upper Britain. Right now, she will have to go through psych eval. And re-qualify her weapons license and all. And the board of inquiry will want to interview her in regards to the Doyle case and her personal involvement."

Nods went all around the table; everyone knew about the board of inquiry which was standard procedure. And the fact that so many agents from the Interpol were dead because of Doyle and she had single handedly took care of the scumbag, Hotch knew that it would be a slap on the wrist for her and then they would approve to reinstate her. Of course, Hotch and JJ would be attending the inquiry as well, to lend a supporting hand and to verify her actions.

…

Penelope knocked on Hotch's door before she walked in; the door was opened anyways, so it was just politeness and professionalism to knock.

"Come in." Hotch said automatically. Penelope saw that he was working on a case file.

Walking up to his desk, she placed the files on his desk and sat down, uninvited, on a guest chair.

Hotch, realizing that Penelope was still here and that she was quiet, looked up from his work.

"Problem?" He could see her questioning looks.

"I…can I be honest? I mean, off the record?" She asked in a nervous and serious tone.

Hotch curved an eyebrow, "Garcia, this office does not have a camera and there is no audio recorder. Besides, you know that already."

"I know but I just want you to know anyways that I have some really personal questions." She said, now her features looked almost begging.

Hotch placed his pen on top of the file and leaned back against his comfy chair.

Without waiting for a reply she began, "Where's Morgan? I've not seen him since…"

Hotch nodded, "He asked for some vacation days; he's in Chicago."

Penelope nodded, slightly hurt that Derek, whom she thought she was closest to, would have told her already. He always did and many times, before he headed to Illinois, he always talked about her going there with him so he could introduce her into his family. She would be a perfect fit to his family, Derek had told her.

"I see. I thought…never mind." Suck it up, Penelope; he really had some issues he needed to deal with before he faced Emily again.

"Emily. Is she doing okay? The psych evaluation, how did she do?"

Hotch frowned at her; why did she come here to ask me? Why not go to the main source?

As if reading his mind, Garcia went on, "I'm asking you this because it also ties in with my next very nosy question. You and Emily? Are you…you know…an item? I…I mean I know it's very personal and you don't have to answer it if you don't want to but…I…cared about Emily and you…I mean as my boss. Not that kind of caring which is where Kevin comes in and you are my boss and I looked to you as you're part of my family…"

Hotch grinned slightly; nothing could escape her eagle eyes.

"Garcia…"

She was still talking.

"Garcia!"

That worked and she jumped slightly before looking at him wide eyed; expecting him to tell her off.

"Yes, sir?" she straightened her posture.

Usually, he would be defensive and told her to mind her own business but those past few days, spending time and talking with Emily had really opened his eyes about what family and friends really meant.

"Yes. Emily and I, we are…I like her a lot and I want to get to know her better and vice versa."

Garcia couldn't smile any wider.

"Oh! How cute!"

"Garcia, we're just now taking things nice and slow. And you can rest assure that we are not going to let our…relationship affect the team and our work relationship."

Garcia nodded eagerly, agreeing with him. She and Kevin, although they did not work in the same place but there were times when they did. And they made every effort to be professional.

She knew that both Hotch and Emily were very strong and focused individuals and that what Hotch said, he meant it. And she believed him.

"Anything else?" He asked softly; he could see she had understood him completely.

Standing up, she shook her head. "No. I think you'd covered it. Thank you. Now, we have to work on Derek getting off his high horse."

She walked out of the office after a wave.

Hotch watched her leave the office and down the stairs but he was really looking at her, he was remembering Derek and the meeting.

Derek had approached him the next day after the bombshell. He was still angry.

As he sat down on the chair opposite Hotch, he began to talk. He repeated what he had told him when Hotch was evaluating him after Emily's supposed death.

Hotch then asked him, "Why do you hate her?"

Derek stared at Hotch, "Hotch! I don't hate her!" he couldn't believe Hotch put him in that corner.

Hotch quietly said, "Ever since you learned of her involvement with Doyle, how close she had to be in order to gain trust, you have been condemning her of her moralities. You have been disgusted at the fact that she had stooped that low to achieve the means."

"Hotch, I…" Derek knew Hotch had painted an accurate picture of him, he was ashamed at how he felt but he couldn't help it. Throughout his childhood, he was taught to feel pride and self worth, to not give in to such low morals.

"Come on, Derek. You sneered with derision when you heard about it. You had already condemned her."

Derek stood up, his anger on the edge. "Hotch, be careful what you're accusing me of."

Hotch remained on his chair; this needed to be aired out. "I do know, Derek. You are pretty pissed because she didn't come to us, to you, about this problem. She had inside information about Doyle but she didn't say anything. That really got you, didn't it?"

"Hotch…" Derek's eyes flashed more angrily, trying to warn his boss how closely he was threading the accusation line.

But Hotch knew there was no backing off.

"What about you? You had your secrets but you didn't say anything." He was referring to Derek's past which, brought to the present and made him confront that horrifying ordeal he went through when he was young. And how more boys were in his place and went through the pain before he could stop it.

It was low of Hotch to bring that up again.

"That was personal. That was not supposed to be out in the open…"

"Is it? Look at how many young boys suffered in the hands of Carl Buford? If you'd spoke up sooner, those boys might be saved, they could still be alive."

And that snapped Derek as he shouted on top of his voice, "Don't you dare! Don't you dare remind me! That was a very personal ordeal! I was not undercover! I didn't volunteer! She did, knowing what she had to do! She fucking slept with a murderer! She knew who he was!"

Hotch knew what he was doing was awful but Derek had been keeping it all to himself, bottling up until something snapped.

"Damn it Hotch! You don't know what you're talking about!" He made for the door.

"Derek," Hotch called after him.

Derek turned around.

"She had no choice. Have you thought about that?"

Derek paused for a moment before he said, "I'm taking some time off."

And he left.

_Okay_, Hotch thought as he watched Derek stalked out of the unit without stopping at his desk, _that went pretty well._

…End of Part 1…

Please, reviews would be very appreciative! like or dislike...I would like to know!

thank you!

Lizzie


	2. Chapter 2

Hello all! Loved the hits on the first part of this sequel! Thank you to all who have read. To Tiana-P, I couldn't reply to your review, so thank you for reviewing here! And I hoped you get your question answered here, even though it's a teeny portion but there will be more.

And again, thank you HGRHfan35 for your beta help! It looked better!

Enjoy!

…

**The Long and Winding Road**

Part 2

"Looks like he is still stewing." Dave said as he leaned against the door frame to Hotch's office, a steaming mug of coffee in one hand.

Hotch shook his head, "I just don't understand his reaction."

Dave straightened and walked in and sat on one of the guest chairs. "I'm surprised as well. I thought he had seen much and understood where Emily had been. I think it was his ego."

Hotch looked at him in askance.

Dave continued, "He and Emily had been partners for the past five years. They had developed a closeness as friends, mind you."

Hotch nodded. He was not feeling jealous at all.

"I presumed they must have had talks about their personal lives. And when in the field, they relied on each other. They came to understand and trust each other. And then she disappeared. We closed in on the UnSub who turned out to be Doyle, and more than that, Emily's involvement, as well as not providing crucial information. She became his suspect more than a victim and as much as he tried to deny it, he couldn't help but see her in that light. Her sleeping with the enemy was something he simply could not grasped. He always sees her as golden. As the real thing but she fell short of that expectation."

"Yeah. I agree with you. So, how do we repair this?"

Dave shook his head, "It's not for us to do so. It's something between Derek and Emily to solve this issue."

Hotch nodded his head and said, "Well, that'll have to wait. He's taking some time off."

"I thought as much." Dave stood up and walked to the door but at the last moment, he turned around to Hotch and said, "Just don't let this fester. Let Emily know about this as soon as you see her this afternoon."

"What…"

Dave grinned, "Come on Aaron, we're profilers. I know we have a long standing rule of not profiling each other but it's pretty obvious about you two."

"Pretty obvious?" Hotch blushed slightly.

"That's putting it lightly. And frankly, no one is objecting. You will be good for her, and she to you."

"Thanks Dave." Hotch said.

"Don't thank me. Just take good care of her. Therapy and psych evals are nothing to her. She knows that shit inside out and she can bullshit to the therapists here who are nothing but a bunch of jokers. Clowns wearing suits."

Hotch chuckled; he couldn't agree more. He himself had spent some time with the therapists when the fiasco with Foyet ended with the death of Haley and Foyet himself.

The BAU team revised the psychological evaluations every year.

The FBI had not figured out a solution on how to evaluate the BAU team outside of the perimeter of the evaluations they wrote.

"I will, Dave."

Dave walked out of his office.

Hotch stared after him.

At least most of his team was fine with his new-found relationship with Emily.

Even Reid.

It seemed that he was not getting his work done that morning as Reid was knocking on his door.

"Hotch, do you have a moment?" Reid was standing awkwardly, his satchel slung across his shoulder.

"Sure Reid. Come on in." Hotch nodded and indicated a chair with a jerk of his chin.

Reid quickly walked to the chair and sat down and began shaking his leg.

"Reid?"

"I…I just needed to talk about this whole thing. About Emily, about Morgan."

"I'm listening."

Not looking at Hotch, he began, "I knew…I mean I should have known about this secret Emily was keeping. I heard her conversations and she lied to me when I asked her. I can read deception and that's Emily. I thought if I could tell her about my…"

"Your headaches?" Hotch asked quietly.

Reid snapped his head up and looked at Hotch, "Did she tell you?" He sounded disappointed as he had asked her not to tell anyone at that time.

Hotch shook his head, "No she didn't. You have been showing signs; wincing at bright lights, your preference to stay in dim areas and you've not been reading as much than you did before because you couldn't concentrate, right?"

Reid was certainly surprised by his boss' intuition and glad about it. "Yes. I…"

"Reid, it's okay. Just tell me, what's the diagnosis?" Hotch asked.

"Nothing. They said it was some psycho babble they tried to sell me. I told them that I don't believe in it and walked out."

"Look, it's not related with Schizophrenia. You must be thinking too much about many things, starting with your mother's condition. We're here for you. If you need to take some time off," Hotch offered even though he knew it would be difficult to do so as Morgan was out.

"Thanks Hotch. But I am managing them."

"But you'll inform me if it gets out of hand, right?"

Reid nodded. "Yes. I will."

"Now, how about the other questions you wanted to ask."

"I'm worried about Derek, and Emily."

Hotch began to explain to the young man what he and Dave had discussed moments ago. That Morgan and Emily had to hash it out themselves.

Reid nodded, "Yeah, I gather as much. I…I'm not being judgmental and don't want to be but we, I mean they need to get it out. We cannot function without trusting each other on the field. They have worked so close together…"

"Reid," Hotch interrupted him. "They will."

Reid looked at Hotch for a moment and finally nodded when he read his boss' assured and confident expression.

Then he stood up, "Thanks Hotch. I think that's about it."

Hotch nodded and watched the young man leave his office.

His team was still in doubts.

Bad as it was, he wished they had a case at this moment; it might keep them focused on something else besides this.

His cell phone buzzed; it was Emily.

Hotch smiled; a text message from E. Hotchner. She had not changed it and for some unknown reason, he didn't want her to change it.

Who knew? He might want to make it official…okay, maybe that was rushing things too fast. She might not want to either.

And what if things didn't turn out …no, Hotch shook his head, this was it.

She was so right for him. And in his own opinion, he was right for her.

He read the text – _Gads! This stuff is major boring! And I have four more hours of this. But in an hour it's lunch time, how about a lunch date? Please say yes or these jerks would not leave me alone. They thought they found their future wife!_

Hotch chuckled; she was taking her weapons requalification. Hotch then replied to her desperate plea. Of course he would love to have lunch with her.

After he sent his text, he sighed hard as he looked at the in-tray and wondered if he would ever get around to them.

Well, he had an hour to kill before his lunch date, he could get at least three reports done.

His phone buzzed again, he picked it up thinking it was Emily again but realized it was JJ.

Ah yes, another 'prodigal' returning to his unit. At the end of the month, six more days, she would be officially back with the FBI BAU but not as media liaison but as a profiler.

As he was interim Section Chief, and the Department of Defense had no qualms because of budget constraints, he was authorized to reassign Special Agent Jennifer Jareau.

…

"How was weapons requal?" Hotch asked Emily when they were seated at the local bistro.

Emily rolled her eyes in exaggeration, "Seriously, this requal is so redundant, Aaron. I can shoot with my eyes closed."

Hotch arched an eyebrow, "I don't think I wanted to see that happening and if you do, I'd rather be a few hundred paces away."

Emily laughed, "Okay, that's exaggerating a bit."

"A bit?"

Emily laughed more but quickly sobered and changed the subject, "What's going on in the bureau?"

She meant Derek Morgan, Hotch could see.

"He is in Chicago."

Emily looked down, her hands were clasped together, "Guess he's still pissed at me."

Hotch didn't answer.

Emily continued, "I'm leaving for Illinois after my weapons certification tomorrow. I hoped he'll talk to me."

"He has no choice. Go to his family, with them around he has to listen to you."

Emily nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I was thinking of that; women empathized with each other. They might convince him."

"That's what I'm hoping for." Hotch replied as he reached over and covered her hands.

Emily smiled at his gesture and held on to his hand for strength and support.

…

Emily had been to his mother's house a couple of years ago when Derek was a suspect in the murder of a teenage boy. The team later found out that Carl Buford, Derek's mentor, was found guilty of that teenager and several others dated back five years. And along with the case, they found out about Derek's past. He had also abused by Buford.

She stood before the house and pressed the buzzer; she hoped to be able to speak to his mother and maybe sisters before confronting him.

Emily had an idea of why he was mad at her but she wanted to know it all, so Derek could trust her again, be able to work with her again which was crucial in their field.

Derek's mother Fran was the only one home, his sisters were at work and Derek was at the youth center now ran by former Detective Stan Gordinski, the detective who had arrested Derek for the murder of the teenager.

Emily was surprised by the change. Fran explained to her that much had changed since that incident.

Since Carl Buford had been found guilty of several murders, his sentence was life in prison.

The youth center needed a new mentor and since Gordinski grew up playing sports, he decided to retire from the force and offer his leadership at the youth center. At first, the kids were apprehensive about a former cop being a leader at their center but Gordinski proved to them that he was up to the challenge and brought back these youths with the help of the community.

Fran was smiling as she told Emily that Derek's sister Desiree was a tremendous influence and now she worked there as a volunteer.

His other sister was encouraged by Desiree's dedication; it was for the good of the youths. They are these kids' mentors and they should lead by example. She helped occasionally when her job permitted.

Derek and Gordinski had made peace the year after Buford's sentencing and Derek visited the center as much as he could when he was here visiting.

Fran looked at Emily and knew that whatever happened to Derek had something to do with this pretty brunette.

She knew that they had a great partnership and report at work but something that happened not too long ago had triggered Derek's moods. Fran could tell Derek was bothered by something from their regular phone calls but had not wanted to push him. She rather he opened the subject first but a mother couldn't help but worry.

As she prepared dinner, Emily sat on a bar stool, a glass of iced tea in front of her.

She found that she liked this domesticated scene; Fran was very comfortable in her kitchen as she moved about the room.

The two talked about food, their likes and dislikes. Then it threaded to places they had been; Emily beat Fran by over twenty.

Fran was fascinated by this young woman who seemed so young yet had seen much more than she had. She wished Emily and Derek were an item but she could sense that Emily had someone already. She knew that Derek and Emily were more brother and sister than anything else. She knew her son had a particular taste in women at this point and Emily was too good for her son's current want for bachelorhood.

She liked Emily.

As Fran was refreshing Emily's drink, they turned towards the living room; someone was coming in.

"Mmm! Momma, I am smelling fried chicken and Turnip Greens! Lady, you sure know your way to my heart!" It was Derek.

Fran glanced at Emily and saw her nervousness. _Something bad really did happen._

Derek was starving; playing more than a handful of basketball, a couple of flag football had whetted his appetite. And he had heard his mother mentioned his favorite; fried chicken.

As he approached the kitchen, he saw that his mother was not alone. His sisters were still at the center when he left.

Then who was it?

The mystery answered when he saw her standing by the high stool.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He growled at Emily.

…End of Part 2…

Hey! You know what to do...mash that button right there!

Lizzie


	3. Chapter 3

And now the conclusion…yes, this story is just about how the team reacts, and especially Morgan which I felt that he was not so cool when he found out what Emily did when she was undercover.

Thank you all who'd followed this story! And HGRHfan35 for her invaluable beta skills in eking out the little 'boo-boos'. So love ya!

Enjoy

…

The Long and Winding Road

Part 3

"Derek Charles Morgan! Don't you dare use that kind of language in my house!" Fran was appalled at her son's attitude; he was always polite and jovial. This behavior was not him.

"Mom! She has no right to be here!" He pointed an accusatory finger at Emily.

"Mrs Morgan, I think I should leave," Emily looked at her hostess with sad eyes.

"No, you're not, Agent Prentiss." Fran countered her.

"Yes, she is." Derek had his hands akimbo on his hips.

"Derek!" Fran shot daggers at her son.

"Mom! This is my home. She is not welcome here!"

"No, son. This is our home. I can have whomever I want here." She insisted.

"Look," Emily looked from Fran to Derek. "I don't want to cause any friction. Obviously this is a bad idea. I will leave." Emily hurriedly rushed for her purse where she left it on the couch in the living room.

"Agent Prentiss, stop please." Fran followed Emily to the living room; she had glared at Derek on her way there.

Emily obliged her and stopped.

"Whatever differences you and Derek had, you need to address it. Obviously that's what you're here to do. The least my son," she turned to look at Derek who was leaning against a wall, "should do is to listen."

"Mrs Morgan, please call me Emily. And yes, I really need to talk to him but if he refuses; I'm not going to force him. Please accept my apologies for the intrusion."

Fran was frustrated. She had never seen her son behaving like this, especially to a woman. She turned to him with sad eyes.

"Derek, you know I have never interfere with your life since you left but I think that this instance, you're going to listen to me and listen good or by God, I'll…I'll…you're not too old for a good ol' spanking!"

Derek was angry and as he listened to his mother and sensing her frustration, he began to feel guilty. He loved his mother very much and would never intentionally hurt her as he was reminded of that time when he was arrested on her birthday. And he remembered Reid's words before he left the BAU; put yourself in Emily's shoes, what would you do. Emily was young at the time of her undercover assignment. Young, impressionable and eager to make a mark and proved to all that she could handle it. She did not have much of a choice.

Derek remembered when he was on a long undercover assignment; the case had not required him to interact with the suspect they were trailing but nevertheless, it was intensive work.

_God! What an idiot I am! Who am I to judge her? Everyone had been right. It was not her fault; that was her assignment._

And there was another factor he realized now; she was not authorized to talk about the assignment. It was a need-to-know situation.

The BAU did not have the need-to-know. Only Interpol could release the authorization. No doubt, Hotch had already done so and added a few blasting words to them about his agent. Emily was part of the BAU team, and it gave him the right to know as Doyle had put them all in danger.

Derek realized how atrocious he had behaved, how awful he was to Emily who had gone through hell back then and now. If anything, she needed their support and understanding. She needed his approval that what she had done was okay in his eyes.

No! That was wrong. She did not need his approval. He just needed to understand her position and support her.

What would he do if he was told he could not tell anyone? He would have done the same thing she did.

Shoulders drooping in defeat, he sighed and said, "Momma's right. Prentiss, you can stay here. Better yet, if Momma doesn't mind, we're going somewhere and talk."

Fran smiled at her son, happy that he was beginning to thaw. She shook her head, "Not at all, son. But you will come back with her as soon as you're done. I made a big dinner and you two are helping me with it."

"Don't tell me the two are still on their funky diets?" He referred to his sisters.

Fran rolled her eyes, "Something called South Beach Diet. This is Chicago, not even near a beach. But they swear by it."

Derek shook his head and smiled. He then walked to his mother and asked her for forgiveness on his rudeness.

Fran enfolded him in a hug as she nodded.

"Now go! Don't be late for dinner." She shooed them out.

"Thank you, Ms. Fran." Emily smiled softly, admiring her strength in standing against her very strong son.

…

"Emily…" Derek began awkwardly.

They were in Starbucks, a block from his house. Luckily, there was a corner spot that they could talk without any eavesdroppers.

"Derek…" Emily stopped him. "Please hear me out first?"

"No. I mean, you don't have to justify yourself. I understand…I should have understood what you went through. You did what you had to to survive. You did what you had to because you couldn't afford to fail your assignment."

Emily marveled at the change in him, "I…yes. I'm glad you do. I didn't have a choice. At that time, I was the only one there that was fluent in languages and spoke fluently. They wanted someone Ian Doyle could take in without suspicion. I fit that profile."

Derek nodded as he sipped his black coffee. "I'm sorry for being an ass. I was acting a judge, jury and prosecutor and condemned you right there and there. Reid was right; if I were to be in your shoes, I'd probably do the same thing."

Emily smiled, glad that her friend had understood her at last. "I don't think you're Doyle's type," She teased.

"Emily, I…" He groaned at her poor joke when he realized she was teasing.

They picked up their coffee cups and toasted to each other.

Emily asked, "We're cool?"

Derek looked at her and nodded, "Yeah, we're cool. I guess I'll put you back in my will."

Emily chuckled, "That's okay. Between your family and your multitude of ladylovies…I'd probably ended inheriting your sweaty T-shirts."

Derek laughed, "I thought those items are much sought after?"

"Not in my books."

They spent the next hour talking about things happened when she was 'dead'; catching up on gossips.

"Rossi has been acting mysterious lately. He grins when he thought no one noticed. And he's on the phone a lot."

Emily tilted her head, this was something no one had mentioned, not even Garcia; the Queen of Gossips had been slacking. Time for a talk, either that or Emily might abscond her beloved trolls.

"Could be another book in the makings?" Emily speculated.

"Nah, he had not been writing like he used to. That old man has something up his sleeves and we're gonna get to the bottom of it."

Emily smiled when she heard him said 'we' instead of a singular pronoun. He had finally forgiven her.

As they made their way back to his mother's house, Emily's cell phone buzzed.

It was Hotch.

She answered immediately, "Hey."

"Hey, everything going good?"

Emily looked at Morgan and smiled, "Yeah, we're cool."

"I'm glad. I thought I was going to get a call that one of my agents was arrested and another in the body bag."

Emily chuckled, "They would need an extra long body bag to fit him."

Hotch laughed, "That's my girl."

"What else would I be?" Emily replied, her grin was wide.

Hotch ended his call to Emily after a few more inquiries.

"Hotch?" Derek inquired.

Emily, still smiling, nodded.

Seeing her smiling as if she was mooning over somebody, he stopped walking.

Emily walked on before she realized that Derek was not beside her. She turned around and saw the shocked look in his face.

She realized she had omitted something to Derek; her relationship with Hotch.

"Derek," she walked to him.

"No. You mean…you and Hotch?" His expression of incredulity was so different from his normal frowns that Emily began to laugh.

"Yes, Hotch and I."

"I never thought…I mean back a year ago before Foyet and Haley…you two seemed close?" Now he was spotting a very confused look.

Emily shook her head, "I think we really had a yo-yo type relationship at that time but never too personal. I mean I know he respected me and my part with the team and there was some resentment with it, I can't really explain it and I did asked him about it and he was confused about his feelings for me all those times. I think it was not until this Ian Doyle case did that he realized how much he was affected by it and by me.

We really began to get close when I came back, when you guys were in Connecticut, I was there too."

Again, the puzzled expression on his face.

Quickly, she told him about her indirect involvement in the case but omitted several incidents that were more personal.

But Derek obviously made the connections as he began to smile, his pearly whites gleaming.

"Oh no, you two didn't…when we were there?"

"Derek, you know I consider you one of my best mates but that was a need-to-know situation and you don't have the need-to-know." She smiled back.

"Actually, I don't want to know. I can't see Hotch getting down to the down and nasty…"

"Derek!" Emily smacked him on his arm.

They then shared a good laugh.

"You don't mind?" She asked when they sobered.

"Mind? What do you mean?" Derek asked.

"I mean, you know, Bureau rules…"

Derek rolled his eyes up, "Please, I don't care for that rule anyways. As long as you two don't do it in the office…"

"Derek!" She punched him harder this time.

He laughed as he tried to dodge her, "Okay, okay…but seriously, if you two can separate personal and business, it's not my business. If you only knew about Agent Karina…"

"Moss?" Emily finished his sentence, earning two eyebrows shooting up high on his forehead. "Oh yeah. She was not shy in describing your exploits. JJ and I had to restrain Garcia from trying to dig the poor girl's eyes out!"

"I didn't know that!"Derek marveled; Penelope, huh…

"That happened last year, before JJ was transferred out. But you didn't know all about those female agents in the Bureau…you were fodder for water cooler chats!"

"Was I?" He smiled as he tried to think of all the female agents at the Bureau.

Emily saw the looks and grinned. "Don't even think of it, Garcia will maim you so fast you'd not be able to walk for a while."

"Garcia? I thought she and Kevin…"

"Not anymore. He decided to apply to another country. This time she didn't stop him."

"Now, how did you know about all this when you just returned?" Derek asked.

"Garcia and I had a long, very long overnight chat. In fact, I spent an evening with her that turned into a sleep over."

Derek shook his head, "Hotch didn't mind?" He teased.

"Derek, I'm not you. I don't spend every minute with him. He had to work late that evening because the director piled more workload on him but you know Hotch, he's a sucker for more work." Emily smiled softly.

Derek stared at her and really laughed out loud, "Girl, you got it really bad, don't you?"

Emily returned his look with a deep blush, "Yeah, he's it."

Derek put up his hand, "I don't want to know the details…"

"Derek Charles Morgan! Dinner was ready ten minutes ago!" They both looked towards the house and saw Fran standing outside the door with her hands on her hips.

"Yes, Momma. Right away!" Derek tried to look chastised but chuckled when he saw his mother shaking her head, indicating that she did not believe him.

"We better get going, momma's boy!" Emily teased him.

"You are right on I'm a momma's boy!" He laughed as he picked up his paces and without warning, picked up his surprised mother and hugged her hard.

"Put me down, you silly boy!" She was laughing hard.

Emily watched the interaction and felt a pang of lost, comparing their close relationship with her parents and her.

Sighing, she shook her head; it was no use wishing for what you couldn't get.

But, she argued with herself, there was someone now in her life that she swore to herself that she would never do what her parents did to each other.

"Let's go, Emily! Chicken's getting cold!" Derek beckoned her as he held the door opened for her.

"That's all you think about, food!" She teased him.

Derek shook his head, "No, I think of other things like…"

"NO!" Emily stopped him hastily. "I don't want to know! Please!"

Frowning slightly, he watched her go in the house and followed her and thought; _I was going to tell her that making fun of Reid was another thing I liked to do as well…_

…The End…

Well…what do you think of it? Please, please let me know!

As for the suspicious and mysterious Rossi? Well, that's going to be a whole new story…branching out! It's going to be a Rossi and someone we knew story…look out for it!

Thank you to all who've stuck out with me on this story! I had fun with this!

Lizzie

P.S…..don't forget…mash that button…


End file.
